Understanding Border Collies [Hardcover]

Barbara Sykes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

The Border Collie is an extremely versatile breed, faithful enough to be a loyal friend, honest enough to be a hard worker, and intelligent enough to be an asset in rescue and other services. This comprehensive, illustrated book gives essential advice on how to become the pack leader by understanding and interpreting the body language of man's best friend. Topics include choosing your Border Collie, taking your puppy home, common sense dog training, nutrition, creating a partnership, and adolescent and older dogs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 157 pages
• Publisher: Crowood Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861262809
• ISBN-13: 978-1861262806
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful even to veteran dog owners - lots of specifics!, July 12, 2008

By 

E. Moll (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Border Collies (Hardcover)

My fiancee and I recently made the decision to follow through with our dream of having a border collie. We've read other breed-specific books (after getting our other dog, a Shetland sheepdog) and came away unimpressed. Most of them provide basic, general dog-ownership advice and common sense. So, yes, we understand that we will need to give the border collie much more time and mental/physical exercise than a typical breed. We have also read plenty of horror stories of restless border collies destroying its owner's home to varying degrees. I bought this book, with limited information in the description, in the hope that it would have breed-specific information that I couldn't find just surfing the internet.

...And it really paid off! Clearly the author has great expertise with respect to border collies and is not afraid to share opinions and impressions that, while not necessarily universal, could be helpful to prospective owners. (e.g. The author believes that coat length and ear shape may give a hint on a puppy's energy level.) What I like, in particular, is that the author provides as much advice for owners seeking mere companionship (like us) as for those seeking working dogs.

I just finished the section regarding specific dietary issues of border collies, and found it very helpful. (I was surprised to learn that the premium dog food we give to our finicky sheltie would probably send a non-working border collie through the roof!)

If I was to find any complaint about the book, it would be that the photographs in the book are not in color. I also wouldn't mind if it were a touch cheaper, given that it's only 157 pages.

These pages, however, are clear, well-written and chalk-full of valuable breed-specific information (and with almost nothing that is just general dog-ownership common sense). I'm sure that this book saved us any number of "incidents" and will only make our future border collie (and its owners) a great deal happier in the future.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Border Collies, March 30, 2010

By 

Robert CRONIN "Border Collie puppy owner" (Stanton, CA, US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding Border Collies (Hardcover)

This book is excellent in that it is a great help to the reader for "Understanding Border Collies". It does not try to teach you how to train the breed, but rather does an in depth study of how they think and in turn puts you in the dog's mind, so you may think like they think and opens the road to a long, rewarding relationship with your dog.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Herding dogs as Companion pets, August 5, 2009

By 

Debra Koch (Missouri Ozarks) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Understanding Border Collies (Hardcover)

My husband and I felt this book was helpful in raising our Border Collies but often found the instructions more valuable if you were wanting a companion pet versus a working herding dog. It was still a great book in understanding and working with the impish intelligence of the Border Collie breed. For those who are trying to deal with the herding instincts as evidenced by unwanted or destructive behaviors, this book does help. FYI: The biggest tip I would give those wanting a Border Collie as a companion is that these dogs have to have a job whether it's agility, running or jogging with it's owner, or herding other animals. It would be very unusual for a Border Collie to be kept in a small cage over 8 hours a day or even left in a back yard while at work and not develop some type of unwanted behavior. Since we actually have cattle that our dogs work, we found other books to be more helpful for what we needed but still learned a lot from this one.